The present invention relates to a mission control grip for a vehicle, and more particularly to a mission control grip which permits a crewmember to simultaneously interface with a multiple of systems through a multiple of Multi-Function Displays.
Various vehicles which operate in adverse non-stable conditions locate various vehicle control, weapon system and sensor system switches on controllers (commonly known as “grips”). Many fixed wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, ground vehicles, sea vehicles and simulators, utilize such grips as crew interfaces.
Aircraft have commonly utilized HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) control to increase crew efficiency. Fly-by-wire aircraft are extremely responsive to small control inputs. In some conditions, the crewmember not flying the aircraft (i.e., the “non-pilot” crewmember) may not be able to make HOTAS switch inputs without interfering with aircraft operation. As such, some vehicles dedicate large amounts of control consol space to replicate the grip switches. However, in many vehicles such as military rotorcraft which may have relatively small cockpits with numerous Multi-Function Displays (MFDs), the amount of available control consol space for mounting duplicate or additional flight control, weapons control and sensor system switches may be restricted.
Other vehicles may utilize “mission grips” which do not directly control the vehicle but control weapon and sensor systems. The mission grip is a fixed grip that includes a multitude of switches which permits a crewmember to control a weapon or sensor system without interfering with vehicle operation.
One disadvantage of the mission grip is that the movable control switch on the fixed mission grip—which nominally controls the cursor on a MFD—must be switched over to steer a sensor system such as a FLIR system turret. When this occurs, the disabled cursor cannot be moved on that MFD without either a secondary mouse/cursor controller or relinquishing steering of the FLIR turret. The crewmember therefore can only operate the cursor or steer the FLIR—not both. Furthermore, operation of the control switch may not coincide with a crewmember's intuitive expectation of how the control switch will steer the sensor field view. These control interface limitations may therefore result in reduced crew efficiency.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a mission grip with increased functionality.